Google to steer clear of fully driverless car: report

SAN FRANCISCO — Alphabet, which has been a pioneering force in self-driving cars, may be scaling back on the ambitious nature of its eight-year project.

The self-driving car team, dubbed Chauffeur internally, will soon be moved out of Google X's "moonshot" division and pivot away from developing a vehicle without a steering wheel and pedals and instead focus on incorporating its sensors into traditional vehicles, according to a lengthy report on tech media site The Information.

Google spokespeople did not respond to a request for comment on the report, which was published late Monday.

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On Tuesday, Google plans to hold a breakfast event here. While little is known about its agenda, an email sent to reporters indicated that there would be time for photographs with a prototype.

The Google Car project's existing fleet consists of dozens of Lexus SUVs and a few two-person pod-cars, and both have been examined in the past by reporters in the course of millions of miles of on-road testing in four cities.

But to date the company has not revealed the Chrysler Pacifica minivan that is being outfitted with Google radar, Lidar and camera technology that will give the otherwise mundane minivan the ability to drive itself.

Last May, Google inked a deal with Fiat Chysler to outfit 100 Pacificas with self-driving tech, reportedly to get more cars on the road and thereby speed up development of sensor technology.

But Google Car executives had long made clear the company's true mission of building a car that didn't have a steering wheel or pedals, and the two-person prototypes in fact had what were considered to be temporary gear given that a safety driver is required to test self-driving tech.

Only last week did the state of Michigan pass the nation's first law allowing for fully autonomous cars to be tested without safety drivers. Ford Motor has also publicly stated that it plans to build a vehicle without the need of a driver by the year 2021.

Most experts believe that automakers and technology companies alike are eager to provide transportation not for individual owners but rather for ride-sharing companies that can keep the vehicles in almost constant service.

While Google may have bolted early out of the autonomous car gate, in the past few years there have a been a rush of new entrants in this new-tech sweepstakes. Besides tech companies such as Nvidia and small startups such as Drive.ai, automakers ranging from Audi to Volvo have make clear their intentions to automate their wares.

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Perhaps the most aggressive company of late has been Uber, which dove into the self-driving game by hiring away scores of robotics experts from Carnegie Mellow University before establishing its own research and development lab in Pittsburgh.

This summer, Uber begin picking up passengers in self-driving cars in Pittsburgh, and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has made clear how much more cost effective his business model would be without having to pay drivers. Uber also spent $670 million recently to buy self-driving truck company Otto, which was started by former Google Car veteran Anthony Levandowski.

Chris Urmson, the man responsible to spearheading Google's automotive project throughout most of its development, left the company earlier this year. Some reports indicate that he may be starting his own autonomous car software firm.

The growing competition in this space caused Google co-founder Larry Page to rethink his company's mission, according to The Information. What was once almost purely a technological exercise quickly became a race to commercialize a new tech, with concerns that Google could be left behind.

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While the idea of a car driving itself is not only culturally intriguing but increasingly scientifically possible, the reality is that factors such as government regulations, liability concerns and consumer reaction make the leap to full autonomy more sci-fi than immediate urban reality.

If Google's pivot to being a provider of tech for a traditional automaker is indeed in the cards, it would be less of an indictment of its ambitious original plans and more a reflection of the fiscal realities that ultimately entangle even the most fiscally secure of tech monoliths.

Follow USA TODAY tech reporter  Marco della Cava @marcodellacava.